AR-15 cleaning... my first time

Everything here is fine, all I can recommend is if you shoot allot, try hi-temp bearing grease instead of oil for lubrication.

Tends to stick better an not run of parts.
 
Argh.

The M16 series clean fiasco again...

To function they can be very dirty and yet if lubed will work.

For cleaning its a snap if the weapon was well lubed prior to firing.

I took these pics -- I was at the range and fired 5 mags - 3 during a break contact drill - and the other two in not as rapid sucession.
150 rds -- pretty few in the grand scheme - and as such I did not bother cleaning it after the range.

For cleaning products I highly recommend the M-Pro7 line of products
The Gun cleaner, the copper remover and their CLP.
(their CLP is more of a L - its pretty thick and does a good job of lubing)

All I did in the 10 minutes I cleaned it - is clear the weapon, take the upper off (I have a redi-mag so its easier to do that.
Pull the bolt carrier assembly out
Spray the inner of the upper and the barrel with the cleaner - let it sit
Strip the BCA - spray it - and wipe it (this time all I did is wipe the components - as the lube was still on fairly heavy and I just wiped off the dirty oil - and relubed.
Punch the barrel thru with a brush wet with cleaner let sit -and reassemble the BCA
Use a pull thru on the bbl.
Reassemble - function test - and reloaded and ready it and put it back on kit.

loading the pictures took me more time that cleaning the weapon did.

IF a civilian firearm is well lubed it does not need to be cleaned that often. I would bet that the one in Beltfed's pics was left dry for quite sometime.


Right out of the upper
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I put a piece of white paper towel down so the carbon would contrast.
Pulled the bolt out
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Took the extractor out
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Cleaned and put back together
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I have some TW25B grease here - I use on my 1911, I still have not used on my M4 since the M-Pro is serving me well.
 
beltfed said:
I love reading posts where people recommend not cleaning carbon off guns:rolleyes::bsFlag:
The products of combustion are corrosive to your firearm, and carbon is hygoscopic. If left untreated, it will eventually end up like the Colt bolt below.

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The numb nuts who owned this before me never bothered cleaning it, so it corroded to the point that the metal is pitted.
While it still functions fine, the damage done was completely preventable with a bit of elbow grease.
Click to expand...

Looks like my first M16 bolt in Lebanon, Nice !
 
My $0.02

What Kevin said :D

You don't need a spotless upper or bolt carrier to have a reliably functioning weapon. Putting 3 or 4 hundred rounds a day through a weapon and then field striping for cleaning (as opposed to detail stripping) is not a problem at all if you lube the necessary parts daily...even if you've got a BFA on and all of the crap from the blanks is blowing back through the gas tube and the crimped ends of the blanks like to catch on your non-M4 spec feed ramps.:runaway:

How much lube you need is something that you'll figure out for yourself. Conditions (sand/cold/water) will have a big effect on that. Somewhere between "not enough" and "too much", you'll find "My AR is purring like a kitten".
 
You guys are awesome. I do believe I have all the info I need, and then some. :D

With all my other guns, cleaning/lubing is pretty self-explanitory (except the DE, there are a couple of "trouble spots" you need to look out for and they're not terribly obvious), but I'd read a number of things giving me the impression that ARs are something special. Turns out... not so much.

One last question, I had a really hard time trying to clean the lugs in the upper behind the chamber, got any tricks or special cleaning tools for that?

Thanks all!

Cheers!
:rockOn::rockOn::rockOn:
 
If you play around with the "angle of attack" that you're using on the cleaning rod attached to your chamber brush (assuming that you're using a military style cleaning kit) and apply lots of CLP, you'll get most of that crap off.

A trick that I used to use was wrapping a pair of 7.62 sized patches around the larger diameter section of the chamber brush in order to remove the crud that had been broken up by the bristles. Not in the PAM, but it seemed to work.
 
Clammy --
I rarely clean in there...
If I do I spay it - let it sit - and use a swab using a piece of cleaning rod or a Q-tip - or at home a dental pic that a CF surgeon got me when i was in...
 
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